Another way to spot fakes is if you find multiple reviews that are worded very similarly. I have seen this a lot when hunting for a new apartment and checking out reviews on the property, the landlords get on there and write multiple similar reviews to get the average rating up, for example

I love my apartment, the location is great and the staff is friendly and everything is always well maintained.

My apartment is great. It is located close to everything. The staff is very helpful and maintenance is always on top of any concerns I have.

I kidd you not, these examples are pretty much exactly what was written about the last place I lived at, which was a sh** hole.

I always read reviews about every product I buy now and I always try to spot fakes. Fake reviews are a big red flag...

I often read Amazon reviews before I buy a product. They have a system similar to Expedia where they tell you if the customer actually bought the product.

there are a few different things i look for when online shopping. for one, i like it when someone posts a picture of their product. i see this most on world market and urban outfitters (i like their bags and apartment items).

i also am more trusting of when people point out a pro and a con. even a fantastic product you love and would recommend could have a con. that doesn't mean if i see something without a con, i won't trust it.

also, when people talk about how they use it, where they use it, etc. i am more likely to trust a review for a coffee machine that says "i use it every morning, simple to use, takes up little space on the counter, makes coffee in about 3 minutes" compared to "great coffee machine! perfect cup of coffee!" kind of thing.

in the end, though - i trust myself over reviews. a cheaper item might not be the best, the highest price with lots of bells and whistles might not be practical for me either - i go with brands i trust or brands i see often in stores i trust. i had a habit of loving teachers everyone hated in school, so i take that attitude with me to other things. not everyone is the same, so seeing everyone rave about something isn't a good indicator, either.

and also - people really only tend to review when they love or hate. so, take that into account.

What I've been seeing more of are advertising reviews. The review of the product itself seems well written, fair, and legit, but then it somehow ties in (and links to) an unrelated product that the reviewer is actually there to promote.

Like maybe a review of a TV will mention how great it went with Brand XYZ Surround Sound Speakers. Or that this pair of shoes is comfortable, true to size, and they go great with this dress that's on sale here.

I check Amazon for reviews on most things. The Genie Bra being everywhere and sounding so good...it was hysterical to see how bad they really are! :P I like to go for the 1s and 2s to hear the worst of the worst. It really came in handy trying to find a good TV.

I haven't needed to buy furniture in a while but with books it's nice, since I've purchased a Kindle, to have a sample sent. I've dumped many a sample when it really stunk and thought for sure the reviews had to be fake they were so overboard about how good it was.

anyone have a source for the desk in the picture?

I frequently write online reviews on hotels, restaurants, items purchased on Amazon, clothing and furniture items purchased online. I write them because I read the reviews of others before making purchasing or booking decisions.

The way I filter reviews the reviews of others is to ignore all obviously spiteful or vindictive posts, ignore gushing reviews with far too much detail (especially true for hotel reviews, these are often written by hotel employees), and ignore what I think of as "grumpy" reviews (no useful information in these, the writers often harp on minute issues). When I write reviews I try to include both positive and negative points, detail how an issue was corrected or not corrected, and (in the case of hotel reviews) back up any negative details with photos. I have found helpful reviews for products on Amazon, but the book reviews are chock full of shill posts and nasty posts by haters. Yelp is entirely unreliable, since businesses can pay to "clean up" their reviews. I have discovered several sellers of home products and furnishings who cherry pick their reviews, and I will no longer buy from them because of that. Generally speaking, if you see only five-star reviews posted for anything...be very suspicious.

@Akay, isn't that called blogging? just joking.

I tend to try and look at multiple sites for reviews of products. You can't trust most blogs (or even "news" sites) because you never know if the writer is legit or simply a shill. Consumer Reports is my favorite place to go for many reviews, simply because they do not accept advertising and have, or me, a good track record.

Reviews that I totally ignore:
1. If the writer sounds totally angry and overly emotional in the review, I ignore them.
2. Depending on the product, if the writer has evaluated the product for a short period of time, I ignore them. Sure, you can get a good idea about something in a few minutes, but you need a lot of time to properly evaluate many products.
3. I typically ignore reviews (especially of technological products) on news sites and blogs.
3. If the writer uses poor grammar has poor spelling skills (unless it's obvious that English is not his/her native language), I ignore them. A HUGE pet peeve of mine is people who write sentences like this: "Received this product today. Haven't had time to look at everything yet. Am liking it so far."

My husband and I travel a lot and we have found that you never know if a hotel employee is making a positive review or an actual customer. We decided to make our own review series of bed and breakfasts called Sleep Here Now where we made videos of places for youtube. This way people can see where they will stay instead of just reading about it. I guess being from NYC and him being a writer we are both a bit cynical so we like to see what we are getting into.

@MB23 The link to that house tour says:

BESTA BURS Desk in white (Ikea)

Not sure if I can say this but I don't trust YELP. They are or have been in a mist of a suit. If you don't purchase advertising space from them, they will only post the negative reviews your business gets regardless of how many positive. This is fact as I read it in a newpaper and not by word of mouth.

@Tarainsevenvallyes, did you actually buy the Genie bra? I watched one of its informercial just yesterday and to me it looked like a particularly useless product. I am off to Amazon to read its reviews! :-)

I usually read reviews on Amazon, but I don't go to the trouble of comparing them.
However, my faith (never what I would call unwavering though) in buyers' reviews got a hit a while ago when I recently came across a review of a resort in the Dominican Republic where I spent a week last year. It was a gorgeous place with an endless buffet three times a day, plus we were entitled to three dinners in one of their specialy restaurants (within the resort). There was absolutely nothing I would complain about, perhaps with the exception of the beds which could have been a bit more comfortable (but a friend of mine who is a true resort-hopper says they are like everywhere). I could not believe my eyes when I read the reviews bemoaning the lack of room service, LACK OF FOOD, LACK OF CHOICE, etc. I would not hesitate to vacation in the same resort again. Methinks some people are just impossible to please.

On Yelp I like the pictures people post of food and restaurants. I also like to search the reviews for less subjective things like parking, availability of vegetarian food, or whether a place is cash only.

On Amazon I like the reviews that list good and bad points best, as they seem the most rational and balanced.

I really look at what people are complaining about or why they liked a product, for one, I compare it with other reviews (if lots of them said the hotel was dirty, it probably is ect.) but also if its relevant for me. For example, if somebody would complain about having no room service, or that the breakfast buffet wasn't so great, I really wouldn't care, since I never use room service and I am not a big breakfast either. If however the staff is unhelpful, the location not safe or very noisy, that would be important things for me. So actually, if somebody only gives them a mediocre review, but only complains about things I don't really care about but gives ok/good notes for the things I do care, I think its pretty safe to say that the review wasn't written by the owner and it seems like a good choice for me.

I only read book/music/movie review on Amazon to get a sense of the nature of the product, i.e., synopsis, overall type of music, etc. I don't pay much attention to what another person likes because opinions are too personal. For example, people swear that Adele hung the moon while I am "meh" on her music.

I use TripAdvisor for travel research and am amused at how picky people can be. Anyway, I look for a consensus on things such as whether the hotel bears any resemblance to the pictures posted on the website and also to get an idea of the "rules" for a particular hotel, e.g., stay in Tower A rather than B, local transport and restaurants/cafes nearby, etc. I could care less whether the people at the front desk inquire about my day which appears to be a huge issue to travelers posting on TA.

Count me in as another anti-yelper. I just don't trust the reviews on there. There is a suit about filtering reviews based on who advertises with them and if you search for a business that does advertise with them they inevitably have a 4 or 5 star rating. Plus I find the people on there a little crazy. I'm not sure I trust the opinion of someone who takes the time to review their local CVS... I tend to use amazon, and scan the 1s and 2s for potential issues and makes sure whatever I'm buying has a good return policy.

I gave up on Consumer Reports because user reviews, including those on their own site, often contradicted them, especially for high rated appliances. And they do only middle of the road reviews - good luck finding a review of an 18,000 BTW air conditioner.

For other reviews, I look at the profile, e.g., what percent got 1, 2, 3. Electronics generally have 10% so anything above that is a no-to and below that is consider. However, be aware that competitors will fake negative reviews too.

Look at only recent reviews - products can change significantly over time.

I tend to read reviews 1, 2, 3 and 4 and only scan 5s to see if there is some worthwhile information they contain. I tend to favor 3s.

Hotel reviews will drive anyone insane, because people have very different standards. However, sites like TripAdvisor allow users to post photos, which can be very helpful.

See how many reviews someone has posted on the site. If only one, and it is wildly positive...

And it is NOT fact that Yelp pulls good reviews from businesses that don't advertise. There is a lot of grumbling about Yelp, and I have no idea what the politics are, but when I read negative reviews of a friend's business, they were consistent and their critiques made sense to me.

In addition to the things already outlined by other posters (eg, reviews are more believable if there are cons mentioned, details on actual use, pics of the product, "verified purchase" designations, etc), I'll also check a particular reviewer's other reviews. It's a big red flag to me if they have only posted one review, or if all their reviews are for products provided by the same supplier. If you look at reviews for some bed linens, you'll find folks that apparently only buy bed linens from particular supplier. lots and lots of them. and rate them all 5-stars.

I do read reviews on Amazon and Expedia, as well as Cnet for electronics. However, I skip Yelp because I think it is mainly filled with haters and I don't like how their system works. Only "trusted" reviewers, i.e reviewers who post all the time, posts show up. Reviews by folks who post infrequently are not considered "trusted" are usually filtered out, whether they are good or bad. According to Yelp, it is supposed to filter out fake reviews. As a former retailer, I know first-hand that it filters legitimate reviews quite a lot.

I allways read online reviews when buying something online. I prefer reviews with facts where I get a decent idea of the product better than overly personal impressions. Amazon is a good source as Expedia or tripadvisor. I tend to read also other posts of people to get the point what they are generally looking after ind traveling or dining.

I joined yelp back in the summer and my reviews appear, both good and bad :) I'm not a "trusted" reviewer, I'm just some guy who joined and posted some reviews. I don't understand the conspiracy theories that are associated with yelp :)

After moving to a new place and on the hunt for a new brunch spot, I am completely fed up with yelp. The reviewers rave about a place where the croque monsieur is a $10 piece of burnt toast with crappy ham and cheese on top. It is starting to feel like getting advice from a friend with no idea what good means.

I miss urbanspoon. I trusted their reviews but it doesn't seem like they are keeping up with new places. Have they shut down and just not taken down the site?

When Amazon has a lot of reviews for a product it is helpful because after some sifting through the obviously false ones, it is easy to get the gist of what people think of it.

It is good to know about expedia reviews. I will have to keep that in mind.

I read reviews for practically everything I buy, or anyplace I'm thinking of renting or staying. Having been a promotional writer, I can spot a veiled advertisement a mile away. I typically look for reviews with very specific notations, particularly focusing on wear and tear. When it comes to furniture and decor items, I tend to look at display models very carefully for wear and tear. That is a good indication of how the item will look in a year or two. Of course, you can't do that with appliances, so I find the online especially helpful in that realm.